THE ISSUES

National Security

Addressing Issues of National Security

While America has some serious enemies - and it’s certainly our responsibility to protect our country and our children - I believe our country’s way of dealing with security issues is increasingly obsolete. We cannot simply rely on brute force to rid ourselves of international enemies. In so doing, we overburden our military by asking them to compensate for the work we ourselves are not doing.

The only way to make peace with your neighbors is to make peace with your neighbors.

I believe that if, over the last 50 years, more people around the world had seen the American flag decal on schools, hospitals, roads and so forth -- as opposed to military installations and other material support for regimes in their countries which they themselves know not to be democratic -- then we would not have as many international problems as we have today. America’s problem is not just how many people in the world hate us. It’s also how many people just don’t like us anymore, and are therefore willing to go along with those who seek to harm us.

We treat violence, both domestically and internationally, in an allopathic fashion; simply waiting for the problem to occur, then seeking to suppress or eradicate its symptom.

With physical health we have learned that we ourselves are responsible - through nutrition and exercise and lifestyle choices - for preventing sickness. This same holistic model now needs to be applied to issues of war and peace. Just as we have learned that health is not the absence of sickness, but rather sickness is the absence of health, we are learning that peace is not the absence of war, but rather war is the absence of peace.

I believe our current commitment to our military as primary problem-solver – a commitment of enormous and often tragic amounts of money, talent and human resources – is not what it appears to be. I believe it is less about America’s genuine security and more about the almost $700 billion spent each year on our military budget - often in ways that our military itself is not asking for, ways that simply increase the coffers of the military-industrial complex. I do not believe our nation’s security is in direct proportion to the amount of money we spend on the military; in fact, that amount dwarfs the amount of money we spend on genuine peacebuilding efforts.

According to the Friends Committee on National Legislation, for every $1,885 the world spends on military operations, we spend only $1 on conflict prevention. And yet, investing early to prevent conflicts from escalating into violent crises is, on average, 60 times more cost effective than intervening after violence erupts. This is nonsensical, and under a Williamson administration, we would begin to flip the script.

Many fine, talented and extraordinarily skilled people work for the military, as well as for military contractors. They are citizens who work hard, contribute to our country, and use the money they earn to support their families. It would be ill-conceived and irresponsible to simply starve the beast of bloated military spending.

Rather, America should embark on a 10- to 20-year plan for turning a wartime economy into a peace-time economy, repurposing the tremendous talents and infrastructure of our military-industrial complex in such a way as to leave us strong enough to deal with America’s legitimate needs for military preparedness, yet moving on to the urgent task of building a sustainable society and sustainable world. From massive investment in the development of clean energy, to the retrofitting of our buildings and bridges, to the building of new schools and the creation of a green manufacturing base, it is time to release this powerful sector of American genius to the work of promoting life instead of death.

History and research proves again and again that the two most significant factors in the creation of peace, domestically or internationally, are: the economic empowerment of women and the educational empowerment of children. If I am elected president, a far more sophisticated, redesigned partnership between the Defense Department and the State Department would put our need to wage peace on equal part with our need to prepare for any necessary war.

I would gladly support the establishment of a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding, providing the President with broad consultation regarding the availability and accessibility of non-violent problem-solving options. This department would go far toward expanding America’s skill set at truly creating a more peaceful world.

A Williamson administration would work to champion peacebuilding approaches to international conflict and atrocity prevention in hotspots through mediation, diplomacy, and effective on-the-ground programs. Important components would involve:

Imagine a world where we spend that amount of money building true security for our people, as well as for the rest of the world. We are the sole superpower on this planet, at least for the near future. We need to use our estimable resources to put this planet on a path to a survivable future for all.

Let's Create This.

This campaign is about forging a new political possibility in America. It’s about all of us working together to create a rising tide of citizen activism and activation. It’s not just about electing a candidate. It's about you....your power....and your world.